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I'm a writer, photographer, and displaced Okie
who loves red dirt, green skies, all things
Disney, Sooner football, and Gary England.
I talk about SoldierMan, Baby G, Army life,
crazy puppies, and whatever God is working
out in me at the moment.
Say "hey" while you're here!

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Quotes for Life

"Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough in Him to speak as I should....My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all boldness, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether be life or by death."

~ The Apostle Paul: Eph 6:18-20; Phil 1:20

"Lord, I intend it to thy glory, and let no profane misinterpreter abuse it to thy diminution."~John Donne

"I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy."~ John Adams

"You have enemies? Good. It means you've stood up for something."~ Winston Churchill

"I would rather have a plain down-right wisdom than a foolish and affected eloquence."~ Ben Jonson

"The foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing is a vice so mean and low that every person of sense and character detests and despises it."

~ George Washington

"Country music is about new love and it’s about old love. It’s about gettin’ drunk and gettin’ sober. It’s about leavin’ and it’s about comin’ home. It’s real music sung by real people for real people, the people that make up the backbone of this country. You can call us rednecks if you want. We’re not offended, ’cause we know what we’re all about. We get up and go to work, we get up and go to church, and we get up and go to war when necessary."

~ Jeff Foxworthy

"The most dangerous predator of liberals is the real world. They hide from it in college campuses."~ www.imao.us

"To educate a person in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society."~ President Theodore Roosevelt

"Only amateurs say that they write for their own amusement. Writing is not an amusing occupation. It is a combination of ditch-digging, mountain-climbing, treadmill and childbirth. Writing may be interesting, absorbing, exhilarating, racking, relieving. But amusing? Never!"~ Edna Ferber

"A liberal is a man too broadminded to take his own side in an argument."~ Robert Frost

"I'm a Christian first and a mean-spirited, bigoted conservative second, and don't you ever forget it. You know who else was kind of "divisive" in terms of challenging the status quo and the powers-that-be of his day? Jesus Christ."~Ann Coulter

"Feminism has nothing at all to do with being 'feminine.' Feminine means accentuating the womanly attributes that make women deliciously different from men. The feminine woman enjoys her right to be a woman. She has a positive outlook on life. She knows she is a person with her own identity and that she can seek fulfillment in the career of her choice, including that of traditional wife and mother."~ Phyllis Schlafly

"Tolerance is the virtue of a man without convictions."~ G. K. Chesterson

"It isn't going to bed with a man that proves you're in love with him. It's getting up in the morning and facing the drab, miserable, wonderful, everyday world with him that counts."~ Yours, Mine and Ours

"I owe nothing to women's lib."

~ Margaret Thatcher

"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers."

~ Henry VI

"We're all born pessimists. It takes effort to be optimistic."

~ Rush Limbaugh

"True religion and true philosophy must ultimately arrive at the same conclusion."

~S.S. Smith

"There's no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit."

~ Jack Dake

"If a woman like Eva Peron with no ideals can get that far, think how far I can go with the ideals that I have."

~ Margaret Thatcher

"What I felt like saying was, 'I've produced my third child and my sixth book since I last saw you. Aren't either of these things more important, more interesting, than my size?' But no - my waist looked smaller! Forget the kid and the book; finally, something to celebrate! Maybe this seems funny or trivial, but it's really not."~ JK Rowling

"Dear LordLest I continueMy complacent wayHelp me to rememberSomehow out thereA man died for me today.As long as there be warI then mustAsk and answerAm I worth dying for?"

~Anon

"[Judgment] comes from four sources: God, nature, diligence and conversation. Serve the first, and the rest will serve you."~ Ben Jonson

"I think political correctness is a wonderful fad. Probably not as spiritually uplifting as the hula-hoop, but undoubtedly better for the health."~ Waiting for God

"Our God and soldier we alike adore. At the brink of danger, not before. After deliverance, both alike requited. Our God's forgotten and our soldiers slighted."~ Oliver North

"The way to tell the professional writers from the amateur writers is that the amateurs only write when they feel like it."~ Jerry Van Cook

"Remember that only in cheesy romance novels is the heroine guaranteed to find true love without the risk of vulnerability or pain."~ Dear Prudence column

"We do not fear censorship, for we have no wish to offend with improprieties or obscenities, but we do demand, as a right, the liberty to show the dark side of wrong, that we may illuminate the bright side of virtue."~ from "The Birth of a Nation"

"Doesn't matter what the press says. Doesn't matter what the politicians or the mobs say. Doesn't matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right. This nation was founded on one principle above all else: The requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences. When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree besides the river of truth, and tell the whole world - No, you move."~Captain America

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."~ John Stuart Mill

"I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there. In the fertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not there. In her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits, aflame with righteousness, did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."~ Alexis de Tocqueville

"I’ve got two daughters who will have to make their way in this skinny-obsessed world, and it worries me, because I don’t want them to be empty-headed, self-obsessed, emaciated clones; I’d rather they were independent, interesting, idealistic, kind, opinionated, original, funny - a thousand things, before ‘thin’. And frankly, I’d rather they didn’t give a gust of stinking chihuahua flatulence whether the woman standing next to them has fleshier knees than they do. Let my girls be Hermiones, rather than Pansy Parkinsons. Let them never be Stupid Girls."~ J.K. Rowling

Wisdom from the Great Communicator, Ronald Reagan:------------------------------Politics and morality are inseparable. And as morality's foundation is religion, religion and politics are necessarily related. We need religion as a guide. We need it because we are imperfect, and our government needs the church, because only those humble enough to admit they're sinners can bring to democracy the tolerance it requires in order to survive.

Live each day to the fullest. Live each day with enthusiasm, optimism and hope. If you do, I am convinced that your contribution to this wonderful experiment we call America will be profound.

The dustbin of history is littered with remains of those countries that relied on diplomacy to secure their freedom. We must never forget...in the final analysis...that it is our military, industrial and economic strength that offers the best guarantee of peace for America in times of danger.

We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we may always be free.

July 21, 2010

Is the Top Slowing Down?

WARNING: If you haven't yet seen "Inception," don't read past the bold part. This is one movie you do NOT want spoiled! But my cliffnotes non-spoiler review is: Wow. I am in love with Christopher Nolan. As John Nolte put it, he is the only director (outside of Pixar) that refuses to talk down to his audience or play to the lowest common denominator. And I don't know if you knew this, but Leonardo DiCaprio...is an adult now. I know, I was shocked, too. Whenever I see him, I always see that kid on Growing Pains. Whoever told him to start wearing facial hair should be given a royalty cut, because like Abraham Lincoln, he really does need it to age his face. And it works. But really, it's a typical Nolan movie - fantastic cast, beautiful cinematography, and an actual STORY. That's what I love most. You can tell, Nolan uses everything to service the STORY. Even if that means giving Michael Caine a pitifully small cameo, rather than writing him in more screen time - just because he's Michael Caine (and I never get tired of seeing him). After we left the movie yesterday, SoldierMan was laughing at/with me because I couldn't have a conversation for almost a half an hour, my mind was still reeling. It's that good.

And by the way, if you haven't seen it yet, but see it later this week or next, come back and join the discussion, I'd LOVE to hear your thoughts!

Oh, and because I'm a good friend: There's an AWESOME new "Tron" trailer at the beginning. :) I seriously squeed!

But here's the thing, the main question: Was the top at the end slowing down? I can't decide. It was wobbling like it was slowing down. But was that because - in the real world where the movie was filmed - tops slow down? Or was it because we were supposed to think the top was slowing down, but he just cut away as a tease? Or did he cut away because we are supposed to think the top wasn't slowing down and was spinning indefinitely, and he had to cut away because - in the real world where the movie was filmed - tops slow down?

This is driving me crazy. I want the top to be slowing down. I want it to be real. And that's why I question my immediate assumption that the top was slowing down. In fact, when it started to slow, wobble and teeter, I squeezed SoldierMan's hand, excited that "it was real." But then it cut away. The other people in the theater chuckled at the "gotchya" moment. My jaw dropped.

And SoldierMan started going through the evidence with me. Same house. Same kids who hadn't aged. Same scene. Same clothes. It had to be a memory, he had to have been caught "down there" long enough to figure out how to change memories.

But here's the thing: If the top wasn't slowing down, if it was supposed to have gone on spinning forever - when did the dream begin? I can't pinpoint it. I need to watch it again, but to the best of my recollection, whenever he spun it previously in the movie, it either got knocked off of what it was spinning on (like the sink) or else he grabbed it before it had the chance to slow down and fall over naturally. Plus, it was his wife's totem he was carrying - and Justin Gordon-Levitt (also not a kid anymore, who knew?) specifically said that if anyone else touched your totem, it was ruined, because then someone else could dream it and fool you (or something). So...the fact that he was carrying his wife's totem...what does that mean?

But then, I didn't notice any oddities in the "real world" like in the dream world. Like numbers popping up over and over. Things that would imply "it was all a dream." So, if at the end he was dreaming, when did the dream begin? Was any of it real? Were all those people...his friends and everyone...just projections? Is that why they all took it in turns to sort of speak for him (i.e. JGL and the totem explanation)?

And if it was all a dream, did his wife really die? Or was she a projection of the part of his subconscious that was really trying to wake him up? And then, how much of their story was actually real or dream?

My mind is still spinning. And it frustrates me, because I'm usually the one who can handle sci-fi/fantasy worlds. Time travel doesn't confuse me. Alternate realities make total sense to me. But this is outside my realm of experience and it's really messing with my head.

What do you think? Did you like it? I haven't talked to anyone who did not love the movie. Was the top slowing down? Does it even matter to you, am I the only one who needs to try and make this...fit together, somehow?

10
comments:

I thought the movie was FANTASTIC. And you know, my husband and I had the EXACT same hour-long conversation about whether or not the top was going to tumble over or not. What a great thriller. My vote is that is a definite must-see.

we just saw it last night, here's my take on the ending:i think he's leaving it open to us to decide if the ending was reality or a deeper dream state.my husband is the optimist and thinks because he saw his children's faces and they had aged it was real. he thinks it was slowing and would have stopped if not for the cut away.i would like to think that but remember when he woke up on the plane and everyone was looking at him? was it normal, 'whew, we made it!' or was it the subconscious projections looking at him.then there is also Ellen Page's character's conviction that he would be okay and the fact that he's made it back to find what'shisface (boss/chinese fella). why would he deal with his wife, move on, and then fail to get back with a buddy that wants the same thing he does?

good question about using his wife's totem.

I thought that the acting was SUPERB! you didn't think about how Leo was playing the role, or how Ellen was plaing the role, you just dove into the story, they facilitated Nolan's idea instead of distracting from it.

our whole theater went "AHHHHHHH!" at the ending when the screen went to black. how funny:O)

I saw this on Friday and it was FANTASTIC! I thought that the top was slowing down and was going to topple over. I think that his wife really is dead and that she was just in his dreams to help wake him back up.

I saw this on Friday and it was FANTASTIC! I thought that the top was slowing down and was going to topple over. I think that his wife really is dead and that she was just in his dreams to help wake him back up.

We saw Inception today and it was absolutely fabulous. I was kind of boggled by the fast that no one talked to each other on the plane or thereafter after supposedly "waking up from their triple/quadruple dream". Did they just knew each other from the dream or did they indeed interact with each other in the real world?

Did they top slow down? I hope so. I had tear in my eyes at the end of the movie which was a first for me in this type of movie.

Ok this is the post I was looking for when I came across the other one.

Damn...you thought of some stuff that never even occurred to me. The top WAS hers!!! Was HE the one stuck in limbo?? Or...was the ENTIRE thing a dream he had on a plane, and all the people in his "life" really just strangers on a plane and he had a big long dream about them? Because they all just looked at each other, didn't say anything and they didn't show any equipment. That dude made a phone call but that doesn't mean anything.

How bout this one (this isn't my thought, so I can't take credit) they showed them in limbo after growing old together, but when they laid in front of the train to return to "reality" they were still young...what does that mean!?

It should go without saying that everything I write here is my opinion and doesn't reflect any official attitude or position of my husband, the US Army or the US government. But I'd be willing to bet I'm in agreement with the majority of Americans, at least most of the time.